


I'll Be There

by PinkRabbitPro



Series: Family [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 18:30:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9397667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkRabbitPro/pseuds/PinkRabbitPro
Summary: When Cat is injured protecting Alex and Carter, Kara must care for her in the aftermath





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to just be a scene. It grew a bit, but it's really mostly an experiment with writing in present tense.
> 
> Addl note: I realized this morning that I'd left out the artwork that spawned it all. So it's here now.

**I'll Be There**

Cat’s a bloody mess when Kara finds her, none of it gushing, but cuts, scratches, and bruises seem to litter every inch of exposed skin, and her clothes are torn enough that a lot more is exposed than normal. It takes everything she has to simply land close and not reach for Cat as the older woman leans heavily against the wall at her back.  
  
“Supergirl,” Cat exhales with the last of her breath. The cricket bat she was clutching slips from her fingers, the blunt end hitting with a sharp crack before it topples and rattles to the tile floor of the CatCo copy room nearest her office. Then Cat’s knees are buckling and she’s sliding down the wall.  
  
Unable to hold back any longer, Kara rushes forward, her touch as gentle as she knows how to make it as she cushions Cat’s collapse. “I’ve got you,” she whispers near the other woman’s ear and allows herself the luxury of leaning close enough to breathe in Cat’s scent, feel the warmth of her and hear the beat of her heart. “You’re safe now.”  
  
Grunting something incoherent, Cat lets her head fall forward, resting heavily against Kara’s shoulder.  
  
Toggling on her two-way, Kara is quick to notify J’onn who is helping in the search. “J’onn, Cat’s here. She’s beat to hell, but alive—”  
  
“You should see the other guy,” Cat mumbles, her voice thick and heavily slurred. Raising an arm to point toward the far copy machine, she leans back enough to nod the same direction.  
  
Following the line of her arm, Kara peers at, then through several copiers, tensing as she sees dim outline of a lumpy shape on the other side. It takes a beat for her to realize it’s a slumped body, then another to look through flesh enough to realize there’s no blood flow and the heart isn’t beating. Not just unconscious, dead. She swallows hard. “Looks like the bad guys are down one,” she told Hank.  
  
“Three,” Cat corrects her, shrugging when Kara rears back to stare at her with a wide eyed look. She settles a hand on Kara’s chest, needing the comfort of her strength as she explains, “Carter was here when they arrived. No time to play nice.”  
  
Catching slim shoulders in her hands, Kara keeps Cat upright, her voice urgent. “Where is he?”  
  
“Safe room.” Cat shakes her head dazedly.  
  
A confused frown. “You have a safe room?”  
  
“Behind the monitors in my office. Lead lined.”  
  
Kara had just assumed it was all the shielding for the electronics gear that interfered with her view. “J’onn—”  
  
“I heard,” he responds instantly and she can hear the rush of air as he flies that way.  
  
“He’s there with a woman...your friend...”  
  
Despite her condition there’s a frosty note to Cat’s voice that puzzles Kara, but it’s not something she has time to worry about.  
  
“...the brunette with the armor...from myriad,” Cat adds, sounding put out. She’s never appreciated Supergirl’s refusal to explain the identities of assorted people who weave around in her wake. “She broke in looking for—”  
  
“Alex?” Supergirl exhales sharply and it takes effort to keep from tightening her hold on Cat’s shoulders. “How? Was she hurt?”  
  
“Busted ankle, pretty out of it from a head injury, but no major bleeding. Carter and I got her into the safe room—”  
  
“And you—”  
  
These assholes showed up...had to keep them from finding Carter,” Cat says as though going after her attackers with a cricket bat was the only answer. Her head droops forward as she leans against Supergirl’s shoulder again. “Bastards had an RPG.”  
  
A tremor slides through Kara and she cups the back of Cat’s head, her touch achingly tender. “They were after Alex,” she whispers near Cat’s ear. “Woulda killed her.” And it wouldn’t have been pretty. “You too.” And she finds herself wrapping her arms around the smaller woman, clinging to her and burying her face in silky blonde hair as it begins to sink in what she could have lost. “We got here as soon as we could,” she all but sobs.  
  
“I found the room,” J’onn informs Kara. His tone would sound stiff and formal to many, but she knows him well enough to hear the worry in the calm tone.  
  
With her head resting on Kara’s shoulder, their ears close together, Cat hears him as well. “It opens by—”  
  
A noisy crash over the headset interrupts her making it obvious J’onn has gone for the fastest route.  
  
“You’re paying for that, y’know,” Cat mumbles, then tenses, her head coming up off Kara’s shoulder as a boy’s cry is audible over Kara’s earpiece. “Carter.”  
  
“I won’t let you hurt her,” Carter shouts, his voice small and tinny over the comm, but still distinct enough to be recognizable.  
  
“Let me talk to him,” Cat orders Kara, summoning her imperial tone as she holds out a hand. Kara hands her comm over even as Cat demands, “You trust this man?”  
  
“With my life.” Also there is literally nothing Carter could do if J’onn wasn’t a good guy. She doesn’t mention that part.  
  
“Hand your radio or whatever to my son,” Cat commands as she tucks the earpiece in. “Carter, it’s Mom—”  
  
Using super hearing to listen in, Kara hears a small sigh—J’onn—then Carter’s excited voice.  
  
“Mom!”  
  
“Carter, the man with you is a friend of Supergirl’s. You can trust him.”  
  
“He’s green, Mom,” Carter says, sounding very uncertain about the concept.  
  
Blonde brows snap upward as Cat peers at Kara the question unspoken, but obvious.  
  
“He’s kind of a Martian,” Kara explains with a shrug. “But I’d trust him with everything I hold dear.”  
  
A quick nod, then Cat’s speaking again. “He’s an alien...like Supergirl, and he’s her friend.” Supergirl is always a magic word for the boy.  
  
“Okay.” Magic or not, he still sounds unsure, but he’s going along with it.  
  
“You do what he tells you,” she instructs him, though her voice is fading fast and Kara can feel the way Cat’s muscles are quivering as she struggles to stay upright. Adrenaline and terror are all that’s kept her going this long, and those are running out fast. “You can trust him...”  
  
Feeling Cat tremble with increasing weakness, Kara tugs the smaller woman against her body as she starts a slow motion collapse.  
  
It’s a testament to her condition that the blonde makes no effort to argue.  
  
Every touch achingly careful, Kara slowly scoops the injured woman into her arms while Cat just sags into the solidity of Kara’s body and loops an arm around her neck. Her voice little more than a soft grunt, she says, “need t’see my son.”  
  
“We will,” Kara assures her and is just rising when she hears J’onn’s voice again.  
  
“I’m with Alex and she’s—”  
  
“Fine,” Alex interrupts in the background, her tone firm, though her voice is weaker than normal. “I’m fine. Did that idiot actually go after those guys while I was out?”  
  
“Yeah, kinda,” Kara sighs. “She got at least one of them, maybe more.” She peers down at Cat worriedly, but a quick scan doesn’t reveal any severe injuries despite all the cuts and bruises. But she’s not taking chances. “We’re going to drop by so she can see Carter’s okay, then I’m taking her to the hospital.”  
  
Every move calculated to limit any risk of further injury to the woman in her arms, Kara lifts off. She can keep the ride much smoother by flying.  
  
“Take her to the DEO instead,” Alex tells her. “They can do a more thorough job of checking her for anything unusual.” She knows how her sister feels about Cat Grant and while she wouldn’t claim to understand it, she will do anything she can to protect the other woman. She understands protecting Cat is protecting Kara.  
  
Plus now she owes her on a more personal level. The woman could have hidden. If someone had asked Alex, she would have guessed that would be her response. She certainly wouldn’t have predicted a heroic move or taking out the bad guys.  
  
Then Kara and Cat are arriving at her office and Carter’s rushing forward with a frightened cry.  
  
“Mom!”  
  
“M’alright,” Cat mumbles, though she can barely lift her head from Kara’s shoulder. She drops her hand to Carter’s head to gently fingercomb soft curls. “I’m fine,” she assures her son who looks doubtful.  
  
“She’ll be okay,” Kara assures him with a gentle smile.  
  
“She’d better be,” Alex growls as she stumbles out of the safe room behind Carter, clinging to J’onn for support. Even from a distance, it’s obvious she wouldn’t be going anywhere without help. Her injured leg hangs at an ugly angle from the knee down. “Or so help me I’ll kick her ass for being such a dumbass.” Dark hair is matted to her head and dramatic brown streaks flow away from her hairline on the left side. As her gaze falls on Cat, she flinches, her expression twisted by equal measures of anger and guilt. “Idiot,” she whispers almost inaudibly.  
  
“Alex, not now,” Kara hisses with a tiny nod to Carter who looks ready to cry.  
  
A hard flinch rattles Alex who glances at the boy and flinches again. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I just meant...” She trails off momentarily, then tries to explain, “There wasn’t supposed to be anyone here. Certainly not them. Isn’t she supposed to be in Europe or something?.” Then she looks up at Kara, silently pleading for forgiveness. “I wouldn’t have put them at risk.”  
  
“I know.” Kara glances down at Cat, who seems to grow heavier with every passing beat, not yet unconscious, but close enough. “I need to go now,” she whispers, her voice tight with unshed tears. When she looks up, it’s J’onn who gets her attention this time. He’s the one most likely to understand how torn she feels between the woman in her arms, her sister, and the boy.  
  
Nodding his understanding, he settles his free hand on Carter’s shoulder and firms his hold on Alex’s waist as he assures her, “I’ll see to both of them.”  
  
“Thank you,” Kara exhales heavily, and pivots, grateful when Carter rushes ahead and pushes the balcony doors open. His eyes are wide and scared.  
  
“She’s gonna be okay,” Kara tries to reassure him, smiling as he nods bravely. Then, with a nod, she tucks Cat more firmly against the protection of her body, lifts off and flies as fast as she can without risking more damage to the woman in her arms.  
  
She arrives at the midtown DEO facility in less than two minutes and slips in through the shielded hatch that opens for her as she arrives. A gurney and a medical team are already waiting when she lands and the hands that reach to help her settle Cat are as gentle as her own. Word’s already out that Cat Grant risked her all to save Agent Danvers, and Alex is popular.  
  
Cat’s utterly limp by then so she stands there, helplessly watching as the doctors wheel her away, wondering if she’s lied to Carter in reassuring him. She’s never seen Cat Grant look small and helpless before and it’s terrifying.  
  
“It’ll be all right,” a gentle voice breaks in on Kara’s darkest fears and she spins to find Vasquez standing a little ways back. “A team is bringing in Alex and the kid. You should probably meet them. He’ll be scared.” She pats Kara’s shoulder and adds a gentle shove toward the doors to get her moving. “I’ll let you know if there’s any news.”  
  
Kara manages a stiff nod, and scrubs away her tears before hurrying off to receive them when they arrive.

* * * * * *

The first thing Cat becomes aware of is voices, worried and speaking fast, the tones registering more than any actual words. Something is very wrong and she tries to claw her way up to consciousness to demand to know what’s going on, but when she tries the pain hits and she sinks again, not fighting when the darkness takes her.  
  
If time passes after that, she is mostly unaware. There are brief moments when she hears more voices, gentle and coaxing this time, calling to her, but when she tries to reach them, the pain returns and she has no choice but to retreat.  
  
Then suddenly she’s back in her body and aware of background sounds of people moving, things rattling faintly, wheels rolling nearby. Hospital sounds, she suddenly realizes.  
  
Hospital? Why would she...  
  
Then she remembers the sudden power outage, the bloodied and beaten brunette staggering through the empty bullpen in a supposedly empty building. She also remembers the terror of running around the CatCo building like some idiot hero, not to mention the dull crunch and shattering resistance of a cricket bat delivered to a man’s skull.  
  
She could have done without that last one. It’s knowledge she really didn’t need, but she feels no regret. After all, he would have killed all of them if given a chance. Oh, she supposes she could have hidden with Carter and left the brunette, Alex?, on her own, but she remembers that night battling Non. On the verge of dying and she’d been oddly exultant after the long hug with Supergirl, thinking perhaps she wasn’t the only one with deep feelings.  
  
But the odd high of that moment had come to a bruising crash only a little later at the radio station when she’d seen the brunette attack and Supergirl’s refusal to fight back even to save herself. In that moment she’d known she never really had a chance.  
  
Supergirl, Kara, whoever she is, would rather die than risk harming the other woman. That’s love and Cat has to respect that even if she’d had to flee National City for a bit to survive it.  
  
So there she was, having snuck into town to retrieve a few things from her office, and hell landed on her doorstep in the form of a woman loved by someone she cared for far too much.  Yes, she could have walked away from the woman and saved herself. No one would have blamed her given the viciousness of the pursuers.  
  
But as difficult as she can be—which is very difficult indeed—she’s never been one to cheat like that.  
  
And now she’s a bloody mess and everything hurts and she can only wonder what happened after everything went black.  
  
Which is why she really should open her eyes and find out what the hell she got herself into.  
  
Finally she manages, squinting and blind as a bat, the room dark enough to make it hard to make out much of anything. She feels the sticky discomfort of things glued to her chest and the brush of trailing wires, then notices the monitor to one side of the bed with its ever-changing numbers and patterns silently tracking her vital signs. She’s getting fluids too, and judging by the dullness of the ache in her body and the fuzziness of her thinking, probably a fair dose of something meant to kill pain as well.  
  
Then a soft sound draws her gaze to her side where dark gold hair is splayed across the mattress near her hip.  
  
Supergirl.  
  
She’s sitting in a chair pulled tight to the bed, folded over with her arms resting on the mattress, and her head pillowed on her arms. She’s wearing a sweatshirt, but Cat recognizes that hair where it tumbles around her in loose waves. She appears to be sound asleep.  
  
For the longest moment, Cat can do nothing but stare at the girl like she’s some strange wild thing who might dart away at any moment, then she carefully lifts her hand. Ignoring the runners of pain every bit of movement brings, she reaches out, just barely touching cool, silky hair so soft it’s the first thing that hasn’t hurt since she woke.  
  
She earned this, she thinks as she strokes very softly, hardly even making contact. She saved Supergirl’s love. Surely that merits this one tiny thing just for herself.  
  
Not even Supergirl herself could begrudge her that much.  
  
Besides, she is so tired and everything hurts and it feels so nice to just sit like this and pet burnished gold silk and soak in the wonder that she’s still alive. The pleasure is a soft and tender kind and she quickly loses all sense of time and place until an odd sensation crawls down her spine and she realizes she’s not alone.  
  
Cat tips her gaze up and freezes, half expecting brown eyes to reflect hostility as she realizes she’s been caught.  
  
Kara’s lover is here, standing in the doorway, silently watching her. She has no idea how long the woman’s been there. She half expects a measure of hostility, so it’s jarring to see only kindness and a bit of worry reflected in her dark gaze. There’s certainly no fear there. The brunette isn’t the least bit jealous, and her utter confidence kills some tiny piece of Cat that still maintained an unwanted bit of hope that maybe Supergirl might...  
  
She doesn’t let herself finish the thought, just freezes as a worried frown creases her brow. She opens her mouth, gnaws on her lower lips, then finds herself doing something she almost never sinks to, apologizing. “I’m sorry,” she whispers guiltily, finally pulling her hand back to her chest. “I didn’t mean to—”  
  
“Kara,” the brunette says very softly before Cat can get any farther. “She’s awake.”  
  
Somehow it hurts even worse that her eyes are so kind and Cat’s so lost for a second that she misses the way Supergirl’s knifes upright until incredibly gentle fingers stroke her cheek.  
  
“Cat,” the hero croaks. “You’re awake.” Her voice is small and thick, almost like she’s had a cold or too many nights without sleep or is way too hung over. Blue eyes move this way and that, running over Cat with near-physical intensity. “You’re awake,” she whispers again, then glances back for a brief second. “Alex, get Carter. He’ll want—”  
  
“He’s sound asleep,” the brunette over-rides Supergirl, though her tone is soft and painfully gentle. She nods toward Cat. “He can wait a few minutes. You need to explain what’s happened and who I am.”  
  
Supergirl looks confused, but Cat feels her heart contract as she gets it. She realizes it’s probably not marking her territory so much as letting an unwanted suitor down easily, but it makes her stomach twist into stressed knots. She doesn’t really want to hear how happily in love they are. Not that she isn’t happy for them. She loves the girl—and god help her, it is love, not just lust—and she wants only the best for her, but she’s doesn’t really want to hear the details. Not even a little bit because hearing how happy  they are might just break her as well as her heart. “Really, you don’t need to...” Cat mumbles weakly and waves her hand ever so slightly in an effort to make it go away. “I understand and I won’t...” Won’t what, she wonders even as the words leave her mouth. Won’t bother them? Of course not. Won’t harbor some measure of silly hope? Well, she’s not entirely sure she can avoid that. Even knowing she shouldn’t, she can’t resist a quick look at Supergirl, taking in the smooth curves of perfect bone structure and vivid blue eyes.  
  
No, there will be no avoiding some stray hope no matter how hard she tries.  
  
“Kara,” the brunette says again, nodding to indicate Cat, “you need to tell her...everything.”  
  
Kara, yes, of course it’s Kara. Cat knew that, really, even if she mostly overlooked it once the girl made it clear she would lie to protect the separation between them, and while those lies stung, Cat knows it was her own fault. She screwed up there.  
  
The irony is she loves Kara as well, and is almost disappointed to hear she was right and they really are one and the same. It often seemed that she might be just a bit in love with Cat and sometimes she fantasized that now that they no longer had a direct work relationship, something else might develop.  
  
Which is one more reason she’s seriously considering requesting a Lexapro when she realizes Kara and the brunette are speaking, using the coded language of two people who know each other and their subject well, so feel no need for precision or explanations.  
  
“Alex, this really isn’t the time—”  
  
“Actually, it’s exactly the time,” the brunette—Cat is rather relieved to hear that her memory of that much is correct—disagrees firmly. “She needs to understand...everything.”  
  
Kara flinches, her body language all Kara and none of Supergirl.  
  
In that moment, it strikes Cat how very different the two versions of her are. Kara is careful and scared and ready to run while Supergirl stands straighter, her stride almost a swagger, her body language broader and confident that she owns whatever space she cares to.  
  
“I don’t think I can...” the girl whispers. “I don’t want her to hate me.”  
  
Suddenly Cat understands. Kara, always so kind, has noticed her feelings and doesn’t want to lose their friendship by openly rejecting her. That realization makes her love both of them a little more. Which isn’t really ideal all things considered. She sighs softly. “You really don’t need to explain,” she inserts, her voice smaller than she’s heard it since she was a child. “I’m very happy for you and I certainly won’t—”  
  
“Oh, for—” Alex growls, then snaps her mouth shut with a sharp clack of teeth. Grumbling something Cat is sure isn’t a compliment under her breath, she storms forward, impressive given her right leg is buckled into a thick brace that runs from ankle to mid hip and she has to use crutches to keep from toppling with every step. As she reaches Cat’s bedside, she leans on the crutch and thrusts her right hand forward. “Alex Danvers,” she introduces herself.  
  
Cat just stares, though her hand rises of its own accord to meet what turns out to be a very light, very gentle handshake.  
  
Dark eyes roll, but Alex doesn’t utter any snarky remarks.  
  
Cat suspects that requires effort.  
  
“Kara Danvers’ older sister,” Alex adds at a brisk pace. She nods to indicate Kara. “And yes, Kara and Supergirl are one and the same.”  
  
Cat blinks as she struggles to parse the words and make sense of it.  
  
“Alex,” Kara pleads in a very small voice.  
  
“And they are both hopelessly in love with you...”  
  
Cat’s gaze swings back to Kara who looks like she might just melt into a puddle of embarrassment.  
  
Alex continues after a beat, her tone gentling again. “You’ve been unconscious for almost four days.”  
  
“You were poisoned,” Kara breaks in, expression shifting from guilt-ridden to angry in a blink, her gaze suddenly so intense her eyes are almost glowing with primal rage.  
  
It’s a comfort to Cat that even though her anger visibly swells, Kara’s touch remains careful as she reaches out to stroke Cat’s cheek.  
  
“She hasn’t left your side,” Alex tells Cat. “I just wanted you to understand how much she values your life...enough to go sleepless and barely eat a thing. Do you have any idea the emotional turmoil it takes for her to stop eating?” she asks, pointing at Kara’s visible exhaustion. “So you need to be more careful from now on. My sister loves you and you’ve got a great kid and if you ever do anything that stupid again, I will personally kick your ass all the way to the county line—”  
  
“Alex!” Kara yelps, clearly appalled.  
  
Alex shrugs, her tone not quite joking as she explains, “I just wanted to make sure the rules are understood. She’s not allowed to get herself killed.” Her gaze swings back to Cat and the teasing bravado slips to reveal the aftermath of both enormous fear and overwhelming guilt. “Seriously, don’t ever do that again,” she begs. “Even if you did manage to take out three of the bastards.” Her mouth twists into a smirk of admiration. “You’ve gotta tell me how you did that sometime.” She shakes herself and straightens her shoulders, her tone lightening again. “And now you two need to talk. I’m gonna go get Carter and bring him to you. Probably take fifteen to twenty minutes.” Despite the restriction of crutches and a leg brace, she exits surprisingly quickly.  
  
As Alex disappears, Cat hears Kara drew in a deep breath. Her eyes downcast, she starts to lean back in her chair. “Don’t,” Cat whispers before she can think about it and catches Kara’s hand. It’s broader than her own, the muscles heavier, the bones thicker. In that moment, she can feel the strength coiled in alien sinew, but feels no fear. She trusts Kara completely never to use it against her. “Please, don’t go,” she adds after a beat, then it’s her turn to look down as she struggles to find the nerve to ask, “Do you really...” she pauses, “...love me?” The question is scared and uncertain and she can list all the reasons she can’t quite believe it would be true, but even so, she allows herself to hope.  
  
“God, Cat,” Kara gasps, and touches her again, the contact feather light, but warm and real as she lays her free hand along Cat’s cheek. “More than...”  
  
She doesn’t finish, just drags in a deep breath and shakes her head as a hard shudder rattles through her.  
  
“When you didn’t wake up and...” Kara’s voice breaks painfully. “They weren’t sure you would for awhile,” she admits through thick tears and ducks her head, hiding behind her hair as it spills around her face. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”  
  
Despite the ache every movement causes, Cat reaches out, resting her hand on burnished gold hair. “Not your fault,” she whispers, neither wanting nor liking what sounds like guilt.  
  
“Feels like it is,” Kara husks, shoulders trembling as she draws in a ragged breath. She looks up then, her eyes redder than Cat has ever seen them. “I should have been there sooner, should have protected you...”  
  
“I know you,” Cat says by way of disagreement. “You would have been if you could have been.”  
  
“I would have,” Kara swears with the seriousness of a judge taking an oath. She strokes Cat’s cheek again, her skin amazingly soft, her touch light as a butterfly’s kiss. “I love you, you know. I’d do anything for you.”  
  
For all the physical pain, Cat feels like maybe she could start flying all on her own and she finds herself grinning like a damn fool even though it hurts like hell. “How about a drink. I’d kill for a bourbon, but I’m guessing I’m limited water.”  
  
Kara chuckles softly and moves to grab a nearby pitcher. “Crushed ice for the moment,” she explains and steps close again, carefully using a plastic spoon to drizzle half melted chips past bruised lips until Cat waves her off.  
  
Already exhausted, Cat sinks into the mattress. “Hold me?” she sighs, feeling small and scared and in need of comfort.  
  
A worried frown creases the girl’s brow and she flinches. “I don’t want hurt you.”  
  
“You won’t,” Cat mumbles and uses her hold on Kara’s hand to tug her closer, smiling as the girl floats above her, then carefully slips her free hand away from Cat’s cheek to ease it around the top of her head, snuggling her very lightly. Another gentle tug draws Kara close enough that their bodies just barely brush and she can feel the comforting warmth of the girl.  
  
“You’re going to be all right,” Kara breathes over and over in a soothing mantra as she slowly pets Cat’s hair.  
  
Cat turns a little toward the comfort of Kara’s body, sighing heavily and sinking deeper into the mattress.  
  
They’re still like that when Alex and Carter appear in the doorway.  
  
“Mom,” the boy murmurs, his voice soft, his tone heartfelt. If seeing Kara floating above his mother is at all surprising, he doesn’t let on. In fact, he seems glad to see her.  
  
“Careful,” Kara reminds him when he leans in to share a barely there hug with his mother.  
  
“You’re okay.” He glances at Kara, then Alex for confirmation.  
  
“I’ll be fine...just a little...tired,” Cat sighs, her eyelids suddenly feeling painfully heavy.  
  
“You’re a hero, you know,” Carter tells her as he takes up Kara’s vacated chair.  
  
“Hardly,” she mumbles, thinking it’s hardly heroic to sneak around bashing people from behind while deathly terrified.  
  
“No, you are,” he insists and she doesn’t argue this time.  
  
After that, they talk a bit, but mostly the sisters reassure the boy while Cat increasingly just floats. She’s half asleep when Alex gently urges the boy out. Kara is still floating a little above and to her side and she reaches up to idly stroke a soft cheek. Sleep is tugging at her, pulling her down, but this darkness is warm and friendly, not dangerous or clawing. “You’ll be here when I wake up?” she asks Kara, who nods.  
  
“Forever, if you’ll have me,” the girl promises.  
  
A tired smile curves Cat’s lips as she tugs Kara’s hand to her chest. “Forever,” she confirms and escapes into slumber, confident Kara will still there when she wakes.

  
 End


End file.
